Covert Ops
by Panthers Midnight Lair
Summary: Jack and Daniel have retired from battling aliens and saving the world, but Landry has one last mission for them: hiding a powerful secret in plain sight.


Spoilers: Threads, Secrets, Absolute Power, Maternal Instinct

Warnings: non-graphic slash, adult situations

**Author's note:** This story was inspired by a geriatric plot bunny who's been on the farm longer than I can remember: What if Shifu identified strongly with Oma and Daniel? What if the Ancients kicked him out? Does he end up on Earth? What about his goa'uld knowledge?

This story is a spin off from the How Does This Go Again series. It takes place sometime after the chapter called Divergence. You don't have to have read the series in order to follow the story, but in some places it helps.

Daniel and Jack have retired from battling aliens and saving the world, but Landry has one last mission for them: hiding a powerful secret in plain sight.

XxxX

Jack sat at the counter watching Daniel as he scowled at his bowl of cereal. Whatever he was hearing on the other end of his cell phone it didn't look promising. Jack crunched on a mouthful of Cheerios and did a little scowling of his own. Daniel wasn't giving away much in his single word responses, but the look on his face was something between confused and suspicious.

"Ok." Daniel nodded. "Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"What was that all about?" Jack asked as Daniel held the phone away from his head and scowled at it for a moment as if the display might tell him something the person on the other end hadn't.

"They want me back at the SGC." He said, his voice quiet.

Jack dropped his spoon into his bowl. "They what? Wait, who's 'they'?"

"I guess I should say 'he'." He said. "Landry."

"He does know you resigned, right?"

"I'm pretty sure he got the memo." Daniel gathered a spoonful of cereal and lifted it out of the bowl before putting it right back down.

"Did he say why?" Jack asked, already formulating a loud and forceful argument for why the SGC should leave them both alone. One he intended to deliver to Landry in person.

The Stargate program had a nasty habit of sucking people back in. He knew that from first hand experience. But they were done with aliens and inter-galactic narcissists. Had been for years. That part of their lives was over and he was quite happy about it. It was his impression Daniel felt the same way, but the look on his face was more curious than annoyed. That bothered him.

"He says he has something he needs me to look at." Daniel said. "He wouldn't say anything else."

"And this something needs your attention right this minute?"

"Apparently."

"Why don't I like the sound of this?" He groused.

"Because you've been at this too long." Daniel offered a weak smile. "I don't like it either, but he said it's important."

"It's always important." Jack sighed.

"Yes, but he's usually right."

"And if he asks you to rejoin SG-1?" Jack stared over at him.

"I can't imagine him telling me anything that would make me agree to that."

"Oh, I can think of a few things."

"Maybe if lives hung in the balance." He shrugged. "But there's nothing they can't handle without me."

"Yeah, well obviously Landry doesn't think so." Jack sat back and folded his arms across his chest.

"It won't hurt to at least hear him out."

"I vaguely remember thinking the same thing once upon a time."

"That was different. They didn't need permission to call you back to active duty."

"They didn't exactly have to force me into it either. All they had to say was Ra's goons were back and I was sold."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not so easily persuaded." Daniel twitched him a smirk. "I know all about the bad guys infesting the universe. It's not exactly news."

"I hope you're right."

Despite Daniel's assurances that he was only going back to the base as a courtesy he had a bad feeling whatever this was wasn't going to be put to rest with a simple "Thanks, but no thanks."

XxxX

Jack strode through the familiar halls of the SGC with a combination of nostalgia and suspicion rolling around in his stomach. He had to admit, he still had some good memories of the place. He'd just been hoping to revisit them on his own time from clear across the continent.

He didn't want to go back to being on the front lines. At his age and with his rank they weren't likely to stick him back on an active unit and shove him through the gate, but if Daniel decided to resurrect his career as an alien-battling archaeologist then he was going to be tied at the hip to the SGC again whether he liked it or not. And he didn't.

There was a time when he would have ordered Daniel to keep his distance from the mess. He knew trouble when he saw it and it was better if Daniel didn't get involved in whatever this was. But that was then. Daniel was a grown man, he could make his own decisions and he'd made it clear on several occasions that he didn't enjoy being pushed around. Even when it was for his own good. So Jack was holding his tongue, or trying to. He was, however, planning to put his foot down if Landry so much as hinted that coercing, wheedling, insisting, or even asking nicely was anywhere in his head. It was not…absolutely not…going to happen. If he had to come out of retirement long enough to make it an official order then he would damn well do it. It would piss Daniel off, but there were certain things he was willing to risk his wrath over. This was one of them. Landry being the same rank would make it harder to pull off, but he was willing to give it a shot.

They followed their official escort to the briefing room and Jack watched as Daniel headed for the large window and stared out at the gate, hands shoved in his pockets.

"We're only here for a meeting and maybe lunch, right?"

"Right." Daniel nodded, turning around to reveal a very disturbed expression.

Jack wasn't sure whether it was longing, regret, annoyance or all three, but he didn't have time to ask.

"Dr. Jackson," Landry said striding into the room and extending his hand. "Thank you for coming."

"General." Daniel shook his hand with a smile.

"Jack. Didn't expect to see you here." He extended his hand again.

"That makes two of us." Jack groused, giving it a firm shake.

"I see retirement agrees with you. You're downright chipper."

"You called me all the way back here for a chat?"

"Actually, I didn't call you at all. I need Dr. Jackson. Let's take this in my office where you can chew me out in private."

Landry motioned toward his office and Daniel strode inside, Jack skulking along behind him.

"Have a seat." Landry said, closing the door.

"We won't be here that long."

"Jack." Daniel sighed, settling into a chair.

"What?" He snapped, arms folded across his chest.

"Can we at least hear what he has to say?" Daniel scowled.

"I promise I'll give you ample opportunity to be an ass when I'm through." Landry said as he sat behind his desk.

Landry had never been impressed with his tirades. It didn't appear time had changed that.

"Fine. Let's hear it."

"I need to send you through the gate." He said, directing his attention Daniel.

"I knew it." Jack growled.

"Just hear me out, Jack. I know you two are retired and I'm not asking either of you to return to active duty, but trust me when I say you'll want to see this."

Jack spared a glance to Daniel and saw curiosity creeping into his expression.

"Cut the cloak and dagger act, Landry. Just say it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Because it's too important to risk anyone finding out what's going on. You'll be briefed on the other side."

"So we're supposed to go through the gate having no idea what we're walking into?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Landry nodded, sitting back in his chair.

"Forget it."

"Jack." Daniel sighed again.

"This is ridiculous, Daniel." He groused. "We have no idea what we're walking into."

He was sliding back into bad habits, but Daniel couldn't expect him to stand there with his hands in his pockets and his mouth shut while his partner walked back into a job that put his life on the line and took their future with it.

"One mission, no strings?" Daniel asked.

He knew that tone and he knew what it meant. Daniel had made up his mind.

"Agreed." Landry nodded.

"Ok then." Daniel said.

"Daniel." Jack growled. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Landry smiled, ignoring his protest. "I trust you remember where everything is?"

Daniel nodded.

"Good. Then go suit up. You leave in 20 minutes."

"Just wait a minute!" Jack bellowed, annoyed by the fact that both Hank and Daniel seemed determined to ignore anything he had to say. He didn't like the feeling that the situation was sliding out of his control, not that he actually had any to begin with. "This is ludicrous." He barked. "Since when do you send civilians on missions without telling them where or why? I'm not going to risk either one of our lives without knowing exactly what you're up to. I'm sorry, Daniel, but this whole thing is way out of line."

"I'm asking you to trust me, Jack." Landry said getting to his feet. "You'll be fully briefed on the other side and if you decide at that point that you still don't want any part of this then the team will turn around and bring you right back home."

Jack stared back at him, fuming and still waiting to hear something that made sense.

"This is a black ops mission." Landry lowered his voice. "There won't be any log, at least not a real one and only a handful of people have any idea it's happening. You go through the gate. You come back and we pretend it never happened."

"What about video from the gate room cameras?" Jack argued.

"You and Dr. Jackson went on a diplomatic mission for old times' sake."

"Like anyone's going to believe that."

"Then we'll say you went back to the planet with the big aliens to visit his grandfather."

"P7X-377." Daniel mumbled without hesitation.

Jack glanced over at him in shock. It shouldn't have been a surprise that the address was on the tip of his brain after all those years, but it was.

"That one." Landry nodded, wearing the small smile that always made Jack want to throttle him. "No tricks. This isn't a recruitment, Jack. One mission. That's all."

He stared back at him. This wasn't like any scenario they'd ever had before, at least not one that didn't involve SG-1 going off on their own without orders. Whatever was going on it was obviously big, but for the life of him he didn't understand why it had anything to do with them.

"18 minutes Jack." Landry said. "You can tag along or you can stay here. Dr. Jackson is the only one I need for this."

"I'm going." He growled, in a tone that left no room for discussion.

"Fine." Landry nodded, still smiling. "Then I suggest you get moving."

Daniel headed out the door without a word and Jack paused a moment, pushing it closed again. "If anything happens to him I'm holding you personally responsible. Is that clear?" He growled, doing his best to drive the point home with an expression he rarely used on people who hadn't been marked for death.

"Nothing's going to happen to him. You have my word."

Jack gave him one last warning glare before pulling the door open and striding into the hall, headed to the ready room and what he knew from experience would be an angry archaeologist. He wasn't disappointed.

Daniel was standing in front of a locker stripping off clothes, yanking new ones on, his jaw set. Daniel didn't bother turning in his direction when he entered the room. No doubt about it, there was a fight brewing. The question was did he want to get into it right before a mission or should he keep his mouth shut and save it for later when they had the time and the privacy to deal with it? The smart thing to do would be to save it for later, but the whole point behind his attitude was that he didn't want Daniel going through the damn gate in the first place. It was one of those moments where he either said what he had to say or held his tongue and dropped it altogether. There would be no point in continuing the argument after the mission was over. At least not from his perspective. Daniel no doubt saw it differently.

He still had 13 minutes to try to make his point, not that it would do any good. Daniel had made up his mind and arguing with him would only inspire him to dig his heels in.

"Daniel…" Jack sighed as he opened a locker on the other side of the room.

"Don't." Daniel interrupted. "Let's just do this. We can argue about it later."

"Doing this is exactly why I'm arguing." He said. "This is a bad idea and you know it."

"Why?" Daniel whirled to face him.

"Why?" Jack blinked back at him. "Does anything about this sound right to you?"

"No," he admitted "but it's Landry."

"And?"

"And I trust him. I would have done the same thing for Hammond. He says it's important. I believe him."

"Will you please just think about this? We're about to go through the gate completely unarmed having no idea what the hell is on the other side."

"And you honestly think Landry would set up a briefing in the middle of a battle zone? Whatever this is about he wouldn't let us walk into a fire fight."

"Not intentionally."

"We have a couple of well armed Marines as an escort and a team waiting on the other side." Daniel added. "I doubt we'll need it, but if we do, I think we're covered."

"I don't like it."

"I noticed." He said turned back to his locker. "I don't have a problem with this. If you do you're welcome to stay here and wait."

"I'm not letting you do this alone."

Daniel let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the bench to pull on his boots.

"What?" Jack asked, tugging on a pair of BDU pants.

"At some point you're going to have to learn to trust me, Jack."

"I do trust you."

"It doesn't feel that way from here."

"I'm not going on this mission with you because I'm afraid you're going to run off and do something stupid. I'm going so I can watch your six."

"I'm pretty sure that's what the Marines are for."

"No offense to the Marines, but I'd rather handle it myself."

Jack watched him as he laced up his second boot, seeing the muscles working in his jaw. "What?"

"Nothing." Daniel shook his head and got to his feet. "See you in the gate room." He marched past him, Jack reaching out to snag his arm as he did.

"What?" He asked again, his voice quiet.

"Just let it go." Daniel fixed him with a piercing stare.

Jack stared back at him for a moment before releasing his grip.

"Thank you." Daniel said quietly before marching out the door.

XxxX

Daniel landed on the stone platform of a world that looked far less alien than it was. Trees, grass, and the smell of recent rain made it feel like home. The small party that stood waiting to greet them only added to the sensation.

"Teal'c." Daniel grinned.

"Daniel Jackson." Teal'c smiled back with a slight bow of his head. "It is good to see you again."

"You, too." Daniel clasped his forearm.

"Teal'c?" he heard Jack say an instant later.

"O'Neill. I am pleased to see you."

"What's going on?" Jack asked in a tone that sounded a lot like a demand.

The ten second ride through the gate hadn't improved his mood any, not that Daniel had thought it would. Jack was pissed, which was fine because he was several shades of pissed himself. Two minutes on base and Jack had started throwing his weight around as if they'd never left; giving orders, making demands, telling him what to do. Jack didn't want to be back on SGC soil and what's more, he didn't want him there either. That was fine, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Daniel knew the heart of the argument wasn't that Jack had anything against the Stargate program. He was just scared. They were walking into who knew what at Landry's cryptic request and Jack was afraid it would end in a nightmare. That one of them would get hurt or even worse, that he would get a taste of the old excitement and decide to come out of retirement. Daniel couldn't guarantee their safety, but he could guarantee he wasn't going to drop everything and go running back to the arms of insanity. Home World Security held a much bigger draw for him than returning to an active field until and he'd rather have a root canal without anesthetic than head back to D.C. The notion was nowhere in his mind.

Daniel had no idea why SGC personnel couldn't handle whatever was going on without them, but something in Landry's expression had told him he would regret saying "no". He wasn't talking about putting their happily ever after on hold. He wasn't talking about trying to relive the past by making the mistake of rejoining a field unit. It was one mission. That was all. Jack had nothing to worry about, but as was sometimes the case, Jack wasn't listening. So he did the only thing he could do when Jack refused to listen. He ignored him.

"Come, I will show you." Teal'c said, turning from the gate.

"How 'bout you just tell us." Jack said. "Landry was less than a fountain of information and I want to know what we're doing here before we go trotting off to face who knows what."

"Very well." Teal'c's eyebrows twitched. "We are bringing you to see an infant we believe to be Shifu."

"You're what?" Jack blurted.

Daniel would have asked the same question, but he was suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

"I could not be sure. I had only seen him once minutes after his birth, but the circumstances of his appearance were not unlike when you returned from the Ancients, Daniel Jackson."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, heart pounding in his chest.

Shifu was supposed to be safe among the Ancients. Oma was taking care of him. That had been the deal. Daniel let him go and she watched out for him, kept him safe. Of course, with Oma now up to her eyeballs in battling Anubis full time that probably meant Shifu had been left to his own devices. That still didn't explain why he wasn't with them any more. Had they kicked him out because they'd disagreed with Oma's choice to bring him on board in the first place? Had Shifu asked to leave? He couldn't imagine why he would have. The only thing he knew at that point was that Teal'c didn't have the answers. He wondered if Shifu did. Assuming it was even him.

"The area around the gate is deserted. There are no human settlements for hundreds of miles." Teal'c explained. "Yet on our mission we discovered the boy alone and without clothing. He could not have been there long or he would have succumbed to the cold."

"Wait. You said you couldn't be sure it was him because you only saw him as a baby." Daniel said. "But when we found him on Abydos he was at least seven or eight. You know what he looks like."

"His appearance has changed."

"How?"

"I will show you." Teal'c turned from the gate and this time Jack didn't argue. Daniel wouldn't have cared if he had.

They walked a few hundred yards into the woods where the team had set up camp, a small pile of field packs on the ground and a single tent.

"In here." Teal'c said holding open the tent flap.

Daniel ducked inside without hesitation, a tangle of emotion roiling in his stomach. He wanted it to be Shifu, but at the same time he didn't. He was safer with the Ancients than he would be anywhere else. The goa'uld weren't the biggest annoyance in the universe any more, but they still existed and if they found out the harcesis was back in human form they would make hunting him down a priority. The NID posed the same threat.

In the far corner of the small space, resting on a folded up sleeping bag was a bunched up thermal blanket that was shifting and shuddering as if it was alive. Kneeling beside it Daniel hesitated for an instant before peeling it open. He was greeted by a tiny face with pink cheeks and a smile he knew in an instant. It had haunted his dreams for a long time after they had left Kheb.

"What happened to you?" Daniel whispered as he reached out a finger to stroke the baby's face, a little hand instantly latching onto it.

His eyes were the same light brown, mutating into different shades depending on the light. And he had the same laid back attitude he remembered. He'd heard him cry right after he was born, but hadn't heard the sound from him since. Nothing seemed to bother him. Not even being sequestered in a blanket by strangers on a planet he'd never seen before.

Daniel took great care scooping him up from his sleeping bag nest and tucked him blanket and all into the crook of his arm before getting to his feet and leaving the tent. Teal'c and Jack were right where he had left them, huddled near the door.

"It's him." Daniel said.

"You're sure?" Jack asked.

"Positive."

Jack let out a heavy sigh.

"General Landry does not wish this child to end up a prisoner on Earth. The NID can never know he exists."

"I know." Daniel nodded, having come to the same conclusion.

"If we leave him in hiding with the people of this world he will be safe. They will raise him as their own."

"I thought you said there weren't any people around here?" Jack interrupted.

"It is several days' journey from the gate, but there is a village. We can find a nursing woman to take care of him."

"Or?" Daniel said.

"What do you mean 'or'?" Jack said.

Daniel ignored him, glancing from Teal'c back to Shifu. There had to be a reason Landry had sent him to the planet other than to make a positive ID.

"He is the son of Shau'ri." Teal'c said. "General Landry believes it is your right to decide his fate. And I agree."

"We can't bring him back to Earth." Jack argued. "The minute he shows up in the gate room people are going to start asking questions and Daniel is the first person the NID will hunt down."

"Shifu will not be seen at the SGC."

"How?" Daniel asked.

"We have a plan." Teal'c smiled.

Daniel had been hoping that was the case.

"I have permission to fire my weapon through the gate to simulate an attack."

"Then Landry locks down the gate room." Daniel supplied.

Teal'c gave a single nod, eyebrow raised with a very pleased expression.

"Then what?" Jack asked.

"The child will be beamed aboard the Daedalus where it currently orbits earth. Once you return home he will be returned to you."

"What about the cameras in the gate room?" Jack asked.

"Unfortunately they will be damaged by an incoming staff blast." Teal'c smiled.

"Think you can hit it completely blind?" Jack asked.

"Indeed." Teal'c replied. "But General Landry will have them disabled by a zat'ni'katel to be sure. I will provide the blast when we return, to complete the illusion."

"Then what?" Jack asked.

"Daniel Jackson will raise him as a human child."

Daniel looked down at Shifu, once a powerful alien, now a helpless infant. His mind was spinning. Leaving him there on an unknown world was the easiest solution. He just wasn't sure it was the best.

"Think about this, Daniel." Jack said. "Think what you're agreeing to. He'll be your responsibility…our responsibility…for the next 20 years. What if he remembers all the stuff they downloaded into his head? Are you prepared to deal with a teenager that has the mind of a goa'uld, let alone a two-year-old?"

"He said Oma taught him to forget."

"That was before she kicked him out."

"When I came back I didn't remember anything that had happened while I was ascended. Well, not most of it. I still don't."

"But you remembered everything that happened before."

"So?"

"So will the kid."

"He was two months old when she took him, Jack. What could he have possibly known? He didn't have access to the goa'uld knowledge. Whatever was in his head wouldn't have come out until he was ascended. If he doesn't remember any of what happened then I doubt he remembers that."

"But you don't know that. That's my point. We don't know what this kid is capable of. We don't know what he does or doesn't know."

"All the more reason not to leave him with innocent bystanders. If he's capable of mutating into a goa'uld that's not the sort of thing we should inflict on someone else just because it's easier that way."

"Do you really want that sort of thing living under your roof?"

"'Thing'?" Daniel replied, creeping past annoyed and headed for angry. He paused for a moment to get a grip on his temper. "If that actually is what happens he'll be the equivalent of a psychopath. They have psychologists and drugs that can deal with that. Think about it, Jack. We're better able to take care of him than these people."

"Daniel." Jack sighed.

"I believe he is correct, O'Neill. Earth has the means to effectively control him. These people do not."

"Do you really want to have to lock him up somewhere?" Jack asked.

"If it comes to that."

There was a measure of pleading creeping into Jack's expression. "Teal'c can we, uh, have a minute?" Jack asked nodding toward a nearby group of trees.

Teal'c gave a silent nod in return and wandered away.

"Look, Daniel, I know what this kid means to you, but I don't think this is a good idea."

"What choice do I have?"

"Leave him here."

"I can't do that, Jack. He doesn't belong here any more than I belonged on Vis Uban." He argued. "He belongs with his family and I'm the closest thing he's got."

"That was different. You were a grown man."

"Who didn't know anything more about who he was or where he'd come from than he does." Daniel gave Shifu a little bounce, the reflective blanket crinkling as the baby moved. "You could have left me there with them and I wouldn't have had any idea that you'd abandoned me…but you didn't."

As far as he was concerned that's the only concept that mattered. No, Shifu wasn't his son. Not really, but he was Shau'ri's and that made him family. He wasn't going to abandon him. It didn't matter that he was half goa'uld and could grow up to be a homicidal maniac. At the moment he needed a home and not one with complete strangers.

"Look…I know it's not fair for me to make this decision alone when it affects both of us. It's your house, too, but I can't leave him here, Jack. I won't." He said, staring into a pair of very reluctant brown eyes. "I made a promise that I would keep him safe."

"That was a long time ago."

"It doesn't matter. " He shook his head. "I told her I would look after him." He glanced down at the baby to find him staring up at him as if paying rapt attention to the conversation. "I'm all he's got, Jack. Please."

Jack grimaced and sighed, sparing a brief glance to the baby.

"Do you realize what you're suggesting?" He asked. "You want to bring a goa'uld home and raise him as your son."

"I know."

"This is the most insane thing we've ever done." Jack pointed out.

"Probably."

Jack scowled at the baby, at the ground, at the trees, at the sky and finished with a heavy sigh. "Fine, but the first time he tries to burn the house down we're putting him in a mental facility."

"The eternal optimist." Daniel replied with a small smile.

"I'm not kidding, Daniel. I'm not going to risk this kid accidentally killing us while he's throwing a temper tantrum."

"He's just a baby."

"For the record, a half goa'uld baby is not 'just a baby'."

He looked serious and he sounded serious, but deep inside Daniel knew he wasn't. He just didn't like the idea of bringing the battle with aliens into his own house. He had a point, but this wasn't just any alien.

XxxX

Daniel blinked as the scenery shifted around him, their living room melting into the Daedalus infirmary.

"Welcome aboard, Dr. Jackson." A woman he didn't know greeted.

"Thank you." He glanced around to find the rest of the room empty.

He had no idea how they had kept the rest of the crew from finding out about him for the past 12 hours, but it seemed Shifu was still the world's best kept secret.

"I'm Lieutenant Fitzimmons. Your…uh…package is right this way."

Daniel followed her out of the main infirmary to one of the small isolation rooms. The Daedalus wasn't any where near as well equipped as the SGC, but they had the basics.

A single SF stood guard outside the nearest isolation room and Daniel nodded to him as he ventured inside behind Lieutenant Fitzimmons.

"It's a good thing he's quiet." She said in hushed tones as she closed the door behind them. "It would be pretty hard to keep a screaming kid under wraps."

Daniel nodded, a smile lighting his face when he saw Shifu settled in an open storage container chewing on one fat little fist as he stared up at the ceiling.

"I checked him out." She said as Daniel crouched next to the container that served as a temporary crib. "He's perfectly healthy. I'm not a pediatrician so I can't even begin to guess at his age, but we listed his birth date as three months ago. It seemed about right. Here's the paperwork." She pulled an envelope out of a chart that was tucked in the end of the container. "We listed you as his birth father so you won't have to worry about adoption records."

"Right." Daniel took the envelope from her.

It didn't seem right to be posing as Shifu's father. The details on his birth certificate should have been the truth. But they couldn't list Apophis and the truth wasn't going to help them carry out the illusion because the truth was neither he nor Jack had any legal right to him. Daniel didn't like the fact that from that moment on Shifu's entire life was going to be a lie, but what choice did they have?

"We don't have serum on board for infant inoculations so you'll have to take care of that part, yourself." She advised.

Until that moment Daniel had been too busy reeling from the news that Shifu was no longer protected by the Ancients. He hadn't spent much time thinking about the fact that he had no clue how to take care of a baby. Scooping Shifu up on his arms for the second time, it hit him that he was now responsible for the galaxy's most precious possession. If everything went ok he would be a normal kid with a normal life. If it didn't the secrets of the goa'uld would come spilling out of him little by little raining who knew what kind of holy hell down on them. He wasn't just any baby and Daniel had no idea what he was doing. Under qualified didn't come even close to describing what he felt.

"You ready?" Lieutenant Fitzimmons asked.

"I hope so." Daniel said, his stomach churning.

"Dr. Jackson is ready to go." She said, pressing the intercom button in the room about the size of a large walk-in closet.

"Understood." A voice replied. "Dr. Jackson, General Landry said to tell you 'Godspeed'."

"Thanks." Daniel twitched a smile and an instant later the isolation room disappeared.

XxxX

Daniel padded downstairs to the guest room turned nursery. He had no set schedule so there was really no reason to be up at six in the morning other than the fact that he couldn't sleep. He could tell by the hushed sounds coming through the baby monitor in their bedroom that Shifu was up, but he wasn't making much noise. He didn't. Even when he was hungry he never gave more than a half-hearted whimper. That was usually followed by the sounds of him sucking and slurping on his fist. Since he was up and the baby was up he saw no reason not to feed him.

He'd been envisioning being awake at all hours of the night feeding him, changing diapers, and whatever else you did with them at that unearthly time of the morning, but that hadn't happened. As far as he could tell Shifu slept through the night. Daniel fed him before he turned in somewhere around 10:00 and then didn't hear a peep from him until the sun came up. Though even then it wasn't a peep he heard through the speaker.

Shifu had been back in human form all of about three days, but it seemed he already had a favorite pastime. Anytime he got bored you could hear the soft thud of his little feet as he lifted them up off the bed, stuck them up in the air and them let them fall back to the mattress. Over and over and over. He could keep it up all day as far as Daniel could tell. No matter how many times he repeated the process it never seemed to grow old. That was what Daniel found him doing when he peered into the nursery: chewing on his fist and dropping his little feet onto the bed before sticking them back in the air again.

"I guess we don't have to worry about you getting enough exercise, huh?" Daniel said, keeping his voice low as he reached over to turn off the baby monitor, Jack still asleep on the other end.

Shifu gave him a slobbery smile and began kicking his feet in earnest.

"What would you say to some breakfast?" Daniel asked, leaning on the side of the crib and smiling down at him.

Shifu responded by reaching his free hand toward him, baby fingers seeking any part of him he could grab.

"To be honest I don't know how you can stand formula, but I guess you don't have much choice." He lifted Shifu out of his crib and tucked him into the crook of his arm. "I'm hoping you guys don't have much in the way of taste buds yet. Maybe those come in with your teeth. We'll have to ask Uncle Jack. I'd hate to think you have to actually taste that stuff." He said as he made his way back upstairs to the kitchen. "Can you say 'blech'?" Daniel asked.

"What are you teaching him?" Jack asked, Daniel surprised to see him out of bed.

"I thought you were still asleep."

"I was." Jack shrugged. "What are you two talking about?"

"The taste of formula."

"It's not that bad."

"Have you tried it?"

"Have you?"

"No. The smell's bad enough."

"This from a guy who ate barbequed Who-Beast on Abydos without batting an eye." Jack rolled his eyes and scooped Shifu out of Daniel's arms. "Come here, little guy."

Shifu grinned when Jack picked him up and let out a shriek and a giggle when he tossed him briefly in the air. Catching him and tucking him into one arm he tickled his belly, Shifu squirming and laughing.

Jack might have been determined to talk him out of bringing Shifu home, and all kinds of detached when they'd been on the planet discussing his fate, but it had been obvious after no more than 20 minutes that he was quite smitten with their newest housemate. For Shifu's part, the feeling was mutual, the two of them wearing identical grins whenever the other came into view. It was also obvious that as Shifu grew older Daniel was going to have to be the voice of reason in the house.

Jack settled on a barstool at the kitchen counter and sat Shifu on the edge of the counter top, the baby still grinning at him. Daniel started the coffee and then mixed a bottle of formula. He was getting a lot of practice with that sort of thing. He carried the bottle and a kitchen towel over to where Jack sat.

"Look what Dad's got." Jack said holding Shifu's hands and clapping them together. "Formula. Looks like it breakfast time for you, little guy." Jack reached for the bottle.

"Nope. My turn." Daniel said holding it out of reach.

"Remember the rule: he who feeds him cleans him." Jack warned.

"I know."

"Ok." Jack shrugged and handed Shifu to him.

He wasn't very well practiced with diapers. In fact, before three days ago he'd never changed one and if he'd ever seen it done by someone else he didn't remember. Lucky for him Jack knew what he was doing when it came to kids. Daniel still wasn't a big fan of diapers, but it was part of the job. Besides, he liked the feeding part so he put up with the diaper changes just for that.

Daniel sat on the living room couch across the room and settled Shifu in his arms, waggling the bottle in front of him to get his attention, his eyes still tracking Jack. As soon as he saw it he reached for it and popped his little mouth open. Daniel smiled and plugged the bottle into the space, watching with fascination as he began sucking.

There were so many things babies seemed to do on automatic pilot. Their instincts went far beyond breathing and filling diapers. Maybe it was more than instincts. Maybe they just learned at an incredible rate, picking things up the first time they saw them. He wasn't sure and he supposed it didn't matter. It was enough to know that Shifu seemed able to do everything a baby his age was supposed to do, minus the screaming and crying.

Daniel sat with him clinging to his pinky with one hand and attempting to grip the bottle with the other, his fingers far too short to do him much good. Jack wandered over, Shifu grinning around his bottle as Jack leaned down to stroke a hand over the light brown fuzz on his head and planted a kiss on top of it. Shifu gave up trying to hold the bottle in favor of batting at Jack's face, formula leaking out of his mouth as he smiled. It seemed it was hard to suck on a bottle when you were smiling. Who knew?

"You want anything besides coffee?" Jack asked where he crouched in front of the couch, shifting his attention from one pair of eyes to the other as he met Daniel's gaze.

"Maybe some waffles."

"Syrup?"

"No."

"Ok." Jack got up, paused to kiss him and then headed back to the kitchen.

It was tempting to call them a happy little family. From Jack's point of view that seemed to be the case, but for Daniel things were still a bit too new to be that comfortable. There were too many things he didn't know, too many questions about Shifu's past and future. Too many details like bathing him and what to do if he got sick to allow him to settle into the idea. He was busy taking things one day at a time.

Part of him half expected Oma to show up and take him back. With no idea why Shifu had left that realm in the first place he had no idea what to expect. Was this permanent? Had they sent him into hiding as a human because he wasn't safe as an ascended any more? Was it a form of punishment? He'd been thinking about it a lot over the past few days, but he wasn't any closer to finding an answer.

It seemed to take very little time for Shifu to drain his bottle. Eating was serious business as far as he was concerned. With the bottle empty Daniel got up from the couch and settled him on his shoulder. That was another thing he'd learned over the past two days. It was easier to clean baby barf off hardwood floors than it was the couch. His shoulder protected by a kitchen towel, he patted Shifu's back.

He'd never seen anyone burp a baby before a couple of days ago. It had seemed odd that they could slurp food down with no problem and fill diapers with no problem, but something that came as naturally to adults as burping was beyond them. He never would have guessed. It didn't seem to make a lot of sense, but as with everything else, he was learning the rules.

Shifu let out a sound that seemed far too large to have come from such a small body and a moment later was all flailing arms and toothless grin. His stomach was full and he was ready to go. Most of the time he would have been out like a light, but the first bottle of the day had the opposite effect.

Jack emerged from the kitchen again, this time bearing a wonderful smelling mug of coffee. Daniel's stomach gave an appreciative grumble an instant before Shifu attempted to launch himself out of his arms. Breakfast was over, he wanted to play and his favorite playmate was within reach. Daniel managed to catch him before he toppled out of his grasp and pressed Shifu back to his chest.

"Hold on, kiddo." Jack replied. "It's a long way to the floor."

Shifu bounced and grinned, undisturbed by how close he had come to landing on his head.

"Tell you what." Jack suggested, holding out the mug. "You take this and I'll take him."

"You sure? I still need to change him."

"I'll do it." Jack said.

"Ok." He wasn't about to argue.

He swapped Shifu for the mug of coffee and watched as Jack settled him on his shoulder and held a hand to his back to avoid a repeat performance. "Waffles are on the counter." Jack said, leaning over to kiss him again before heading out of the room. "Settle down, little guy. Remember rule number 12, never bounce a full baby or you get baby barf all over the place." Daniel heard him say and smiled into his mug.

XxxX

Daniel picked up the blanket and scattering of toys from the nursery floor while Jack sat lulling Shifu to sleep. It was amazing how little time it had taken to fill the place with baby stuff. They had a closet full of diapers and clothes and a room full of furniture. Then there was the growing collection of toys he could chew on, sit in, bounce in, and scoot around with once he got to that phase. He'd had no idea where to even begin when it came to picking out baby stuff. He hadn't known what half of them were even for, but Jack had so he'd let him handle that part.

It wasn't the first time the realization struck him that without Jack he would be in so far over his head he couldn't see daylight. He had no idea how first time parents managed to get through it. Maybe they just figured it out as they went along. It was a very intimidating thought.

"Is he asleep?" Jack whispered, unable to see Shifu's face when his head was tucked to his shoulder.

Daniel peered over at him. "Yes."

Jack got up and deposited the little bundle in bed, covering him with a blanket. They stood side by side for a long moment staring into the crib.

"When I imagined what our lives would be like without the Stargate program I never saw this." Jack admitted.

"Me either." Daniel glanced over at him.

In the back of his mind he wondered what having Shifu around was going to do to him. There was no way it wasn't churning up memories of Charlie. He hoped it would be therapeutic, but he didn't know for sure. So far Jack seemed thrilled to have reprised his role as a father. He hoped it stayed that way and that the whole thing didn't mutate into something that opened that wound all over again.

Daniel reached out and stroked the hair on Shifu's head. Most of the past two days he'd spent focusing on the next feeding or the next diaper change too caught up in the details to see the bigger picture, but every now and then it struck him what he'd done. He just hoped it had been the right decision…for all of them.

The argument that had started the moment they'd set foot in the SGC had evaporated the minute Shifu had come into view. Even Jack had to admit Landry had been right. It was important and Daniel would have never forgiven himself if he hadn't gone. Either Jack understood that or he felt the same way because he hadn't said a word about it since. In fact, he hadn't said a word about any of it since. He'd made a unilateral decision that had drastic affects on their life together and Jack didn't seem to have any comment about it. He appreciated the lack of tension between them, but at the same time, he knew his choice hadn't been fair and he couldn't help wondering why that wasn't an issue.

"You ok?" Jack asked, resting a hand over one of his where it curled around the crib railing.

"Yeah."

"Sorry you did this?"

"No." His head came up and Daniel looked over at him. "Are you?"

"No." He smiled.

"Let's hope we still feel that way when he's bigger."

"It'll be too late to take it back by then." Jack shrugged. "Pretty sure it already is."

"I think so." Daniel nodded. "I don't think I could give him up at this point."

"Me either."

"I'm sorry, Jack. I know I backed you into this. I just…I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't leave him there."

"I know."

Jack reached out and curled a hand around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him with a slow, gentle contact of his lips, a thumb stroking his jaw. "Come on, Dad." He whispered "Let's go to bed."

Daniel smiled to himself and reached out to turn on the baby monitor before letting Jack usher him out of the room. He didn't feel much like a dad yet. He still felt like the babysitter. He could only assume one day that would change.

XxxX This is Chapter One of a new series titled Covert Ops. To read future chapters please visit my website www(dot)pantherslairsg1(dot)net.


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